Mazgaba Maṣāḥəft

Titles

• Vita and Martyrdom of ʾAbbā Baʾamin
• Vita and Martyrdom of ʾAbbā Baʾamin (Arabic version)

Description

(from the Synaxary version) This holy man was from the monastery of the sons of Khadhib, to the north of the province of ‘Eshmunayn, in the country of Egypt, and from the city of Tersa; he was the steward of a certain rich man, and was beloved by everybody because of his sincerity and justice. And the rich man had a wife who loved ʾAbbā Baʾamin, and she trusted him greatly. And Saint ʾAbbā Baʾamin pondered about the end of the world, and he left the service of that rich man, and he went to a monastery in that [place] and became a monk therein. When the rich man heard that ʾAbbā Baʾamin had left him, and departed, he was exceedingly sorry. And taking his wife with him he went unto him, “We cannot part from thee by any means, and we will not let thee go.” And the saint said unto them, “I cannot [return], I have vowed myself to God”; and they departed from him sorrowing greatly because of their parting from him. And this holy man fought a great and a good fight, and he lived a life of strenuous devotion to God for many years with fasting, and prayer, and vigil. And this was not enough for him, for he wished to become a martyr and to pour out his blood for the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And he went to the city of Antinoe where he found many Christians suffering torture, and he confessed our Lord Jesus Christ, and they inflicted severe tortures upon him, and they scourged him, and they burnt his body with fire, and they chopped off his limbs, and threw him on the wheel, and they made iron rods red-hot and burnt his flesh with them. And under all these tortures our Lord Christ strengthened him, and raised him up whole and uninjured. And whilst he was suffering in this wise the worship of idols came to an end, for Constantine the Just became emperor, and he commanded the keepers of the prisons to set free the Christians who had been shut up in the prison houses by the infidel Diocletian for the sake of Christ’s Name. And our Lord Jesus Christ appeared unto Saint ʾAbbā Baʾamin and commanded him to go unto all those saints who were in prison, and to make them to know that our lord Christ reckoned among the martyrs those who were called “Confessors”; and the Emperor Constantine commanded [his servants] to bring seventy-two of them. And there was there with them Abba Nob, the confessor, and they went to him. And Saint ʾAbbā Baʾamin dwelt in a monastery which was outside the city of ‘Eshmunayn, and God give him a great gift, and he healed the sick, and the report of him was noised abroad in all countries. Now a very severe illness came upon the empress, the wife of the Emperor of Rome, and it happened because of a certain God-fearing deacon who was near her, and who used to read to her every day the Book of the Vision of John the Evangelist, that is to say, “Abukalamsis (i.e. the Apocalypse).” And one of the emperor’s stewards was jealous of him and he went to the emperor and said unto him, “Know, O my lord, that John the deacon lieth with our lady the empress, thy wife, and maketh the pretence of reading to her the Book of the Vision of John every day.” When the emperor heard this he was very sorry, and he rose up straightway and went into his palace where the empress was, and he found the deacon standing before the empress and reading the Book of the Vision of John. And the emperor commanded [his soldiers] to take the deacon and his book and to sink them both in the river; and two men saw the form of a shining man descending, and he came and snatched the deacon out of the river together with his book, and he took him and placed him on an island; and when the two men saw this they marveled exceedingly, and they went to their houses and told no one connected with the emperor what they had seen. When the empress saw what they had done to that deacon she was exceedingly sorry, and her illness increased, and the disease attacked her belly; and she continued to suffer from this disease for five and twenty years. And many physicians came to her but they were unable to heal her of her sickness. And a certain learned man counseled her, saying, “If thou wert to go to the holy men who are in the land of Egypt, then thou wouldst be healed of thy sickness and tribulation.” And straightway she rose up, and there were many soldiers with her, and she arrived in the land of Egypt, and she went about and visited many monasteries and churches, but she was not healed of her sickness. When she came to the city of Antinoe the nobles who saw her marveled exceedingly concerning her coming, and she told them everything about her sickness, and they counseled her to go to Saint ʾAbbā Baʾamin; and she embarked in a ship for the monastery of Saint ʾAbbā Baʾamin. And one told the saint, saying, “Behold, the empress hath come to thee, and wishes to be blessed by thee.” And he said unto him, “What have I to do with the empress of the earth and her greatness?” And the brethren besought him earnestly to go out to her, and he did so; and when the empress saw him she bowed low at his feet. And Saint ʾAbbā Baʾamin prayed concerning her sickness over some oil, and he anointed her therewith, and she was healed of her sickness. And Saint ʾAbbā Baʾamin said unto her, “Knew thou that this sickness which hath come upon thee is caused by the deacon whom the emperor drowned in the river, but he is alive at this day and dwells on this island in the river, and the Book of the Vision of John Abukalamsis is with him”; and when the empress heard these words she marveled exceedingly, and she praised God and rejoiced with very great joy because the deacon was alive. And she offered to Saint Baʾamin much money and many gifts, but he took nothing from her except money [sufficient to buy] sacred vessels for the church, a paten, a chalice, and a cross of gold; then she returned to the city of Rome praising God. And when she met the emperor she told him all that had happened to her, and how Saint ʾAbbā Baʾamin had told her that the deacon whom he had drowned was alive at that time; and when the emperor heard this he marveled exceedingly and sent messengers to the island, and they found the deacon alive, and the Book of the Vision of John was with him; and they returned and reported this to the emperor. And the emperor sent a messenger to him a second time to entreat him to come to him; and they brought him to the emperor; and when the emperor saw him he rejoiced with very great joy, and bowed down at his feet, and he said unto him, “Forgive me my sin which I committed against thee.” And the saint said unto him, “May God forgive both of us our sins.” And after this that deacon was appointed Archbishop of the city of Rome, and he translated the Vision of John Abukalamsis. And Saint ʾAbbā Baʾamin fought by day and by night, ceaselessly, the spiritual fight. And there was near him a certain holy bishop who made a festival of the martyrs, with several believers, in a certain monastery; and the Arian heretics took to themselves a false bishop and led astray very many of the people, and the bishop of the city came to Saint ʾAbbā Baʾamin and told him of his sorrow [which was caused] by those heretics. When the festival of the martyrs arrived ʾAbbā Baʾamin prayed and entreated God, and prostrated himself with his people that He would make the counsel of the heretics void. Then he took a palm rod in his hand, and all the monks who were with him took each his palm rod in his hand, and they went to the place where the heretics were, and drove them away, and God, the Glorious and Most High, made void their counsel, and they have not returned to this day. And Saint ʾAbbā Baʾamin, being an aged man, fell sick of a mortal disease. And he gathered together the brethren and commanded them, and comforted them, and told them that [the end of] his days was near, and that he was going to God, and the fathers and the brethren sorrowed because of his [approaching] separation from them, and then he delivered up his soul to God his Creator. And the brethren swathed him for burial in costly cloths and they sang psalms, and hymns, and dirges over him, as was meet. And his body was a help unto all those who came to it, or to the church, in the True Faith, and what they asked for came to them. Salutation to ʾAbbā Baʾamin who lay on a red-hot iron bed.